


Break

by mindless_pidgeon (the_one_with_the_plan)



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Broken Bones, Injury Recovery, Sad with a Happy Ending, Set after Lena was recovered from the vultures, lena needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:08:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21993463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_one_with_the_plan/pseuds/mindless_pidgeon
Summary: Lena never found it easy to ask for help, now she doesn't need to.
Relationships: Bentina Beakley & Lena (Disney: DuckTales), Lena (Disney: DuckTales) & Webby Vanderquack
Comments: 2
Kudos: 65
Collections: Avatar Tales: A Ducktales AU





	Break

**Author's Note:**

> On this episode of what can Hanna do to angst this shit up?

_Everything felt cold, the floor, her body and the stony stares of the three vultures, high up on the stands._

_A harsh snap echoed through the barren room, black spots started appearing in her vision, she couldn't even tell she was screaming, a horrid warmth spread out across her leg, which one? She couldn't tell, everything was blurring together. She couldn't breathe, she reached out her hand in a weak attempt to soothe the agony pulsing from her limb. It felt wrong, bent, misshapen, broken._

_The vultures must've know she was struggling to help herself so they granted her a rare gift, a chance to heal, she barely recognised the sound of a wooden bowl being thrust by her side, seemingly from nowhere, liquid sloshing around inside, water._

_"What are you waiting for, girl? Heal it and get back up." Could she even do this, she had never healed a broken bone before, cuts, bruises anything other than a break. She didn't even know how to even begin healing a full-on broken limb, the vulture kept talking, words mixing together, they wouldn't stop until she got back up. Sweat was falling down her forehead in streams as she, raggedly, bent the water out of the bowl towards her injury, it felt horrible. Ice cold water binding the snapped bone together, she wasn't doing it right, she couldn't focus._

_But, as long as she could walk that's all the vultures cared about._

_After her broken skin had finally sewn itself back together, she shakily threw herself to her feet, ignoring the faint painful sensation pulsing from her poorly healed leg, and continued to follow each and every instruction under those vicious eyes._

___

Lena's eyes snapped open as she jolted forward, the sun was about to fully rise upon the manor, time for her to get up.. However, a familiar weight against her side stopped her in her tracks, Webby?

_'Right, I'm not... there anymore, I don't have to get up.'_ Closing her eyes, Lena set herself back so she was lying closer to the young firebender. Sleep wouldn't come back to her not matter how hard she tried. she _had_ to get up even if he wanted to go back to sleep.

Moving slowly, as to not disturb the sleeping girl beside her, she slipped out of the bed, struggling to stabilise herself on her misshapen leg, she had almost forgotten about it when she had been lying down, but she hadn't let it stop her then, so why should it stop her now? 

Quietly, she limped through the manor carefully avoiding every other room and making a beeline for the gigantic garden she steeled herself, taking in several deep breathes. Assuming her usual low stance, ignoring her shaking hands, she began. 

Breathe in, breathe out. 

Lena threw herself forward, remaining low, allowing the earth beneath her to harshly twist and break to her will. She hadn't been given a chance to practice bending properly since she been recovered from the Vultures, mostly due to the forced bed rest enforced by every adult in the manor, but she  _needed_ to get stronger if she was going to live up to her legacy. 

Pivoting onto her other leg, to better her lacking stance, she felt herself crumple, her leg wasn’t holding her body up properly, she was thrown forward onto her knees, everything started hurting, when did she start hurting? Did she ever  _stop_ hurting? When did everything get so  _cold_?

Everything kept flashing, one minute she was in the garden, the next she was back in that dark hall, six judgemental eyes bearing into her. She couldn't breathe. She scrunched her eyes closed, wishing the twisted visions away.

_'Your form is too loose.'_

Why wouldn't they stop?

_'Use more aggression!'_

_'You'll never be of any use to anyone when you're this pathetic.'_

She couldn't take it,  _where_ were they coming from? 

_'What good is an Avatar that can't stand on their own two feet?'_

_"Stop!"_ Lena slammed her fists against the hard ground, flinging stray pieces of stone across the courtyard, barely registering the faint sound of breaking glass. Her breath was coming out in short, sharp intervals, everything was spinning, her legs wouldn't move.

_'I didn't ask for this, why does this keep happening to me?'_

Lena's hand reached to her pained leg, feeling the disfigured joint, she couldn't even heal her own injury, maybe they were right? What good was she? 

"Lena? Lena, look at me." Who was that? Lena rose her trembling head up to look up at the figure, warped by the teas building up in her eyes, draped in very familiar purple robes, kneeling on the ground in front of her.

“B-Beakley?” Lena’s voice was weak, barely above a whisper in volume. She had never been on the best of terms with the manor's housekeeper, their personalities constantly clashed, but now she was relieved that she was the one who found her like this. 

“Just breathe with me Lena, deeps breaths.” The elder firebenders voice was deep, calming yet somehow overpowering the nagging voices of the vultures that lurked deep in her mind.

Breathe in, breathe out. 

It felt like hours had passed by the time Lena had steadied her breathing, and it felt like it took even longer to persuade her to come inside. 

“Honestly, Lena, you should still be in bed. You need time to recover, nobody expects you to bounce back so soon.” Logic said that she was right, that she should take time to heal but that conflicting feeling of doubt was winning her over.

“N-no, I  _have_ to be ready. The last time I wasn’t ready Webby got hurt and it was  _my_ fault!” Tears openly traced down Lena’s face, she knew she was right, if she was a better avatar, she could’ve protected everyone, but she couldn’t. If she was  _good enough_ ,  she wouldn’t of gotten hurt, but she  _wasn’t._

Strong arms draped across her back lifted her from her thoughts, Beakley was...hugging her? Well, hugging her as well as lifting her from her sorry place on the ground. The older duck turned and began walking towards the manor doors, ignoring Lena's weak protests as she strode.

“That  _ridiculous_ , nobody could’ve predicated any of that, so don’t start putting all of it on your shoulders. None of us blame you, now come on, let’s go inside the other children should be awake soon.” She didn’t protest, her body hung limply as Beakley carried her inside, making note of the cracked glass she had left in her wake. She only moved when she had been set down on the comfiest chair that could be found in the large living room, adjusting herself so that she was sitting comfortably. The teen pretended not to notice Beakley's concerned glance towards her leg as she left the room.

True enough to her word, the triplets, followed by Webby, began slowly traipsing down the stairs, blinking sleep out of their eyes. 

"Lena, there you are! Why were you up so early?" Webby wasted no time setting herself down next to the girl, not noticing Lena shifting slightly as she folded her leg under herself.

"Hey, are you ok? You don't look so good." Huey's voice piped up from the other side of the room, calling everyone's attention towards her. Cold dread settled in her stomach as she raced through her mind for an answer, should she tell the truth? Or would that burden them too much?

"Relax, short stuff, I'm fine. Just couldn't get back to sleep so I came down here." She chuckled slightly after seeing the the boys reaction, satisfied with the lightening mood, she settled back into the comfort of the chair, not paying much attention to the fact that she had unknowingly stretched out her legs from their former position.

A soft gasp pulled Lena out of her momentary bliss, turning her head she saw Webby, sorrowfully looking towards her crooked leg, her smile faded and small tears building in the corners of her eyes. 

"H-hey, Pink, it's alright. It looks worse than it is, I  _promise_."  This was the last thing she wanted, she didn't want Webby to worry about her even more, they'd all been through enough already and this was the last thing that they needed on their plate.

"What happened, Lena? Why didn't you tell anyone?" Lena's heart hurt when she heard how small the firebenders voice was, how could she possibly lie to her? 

"I honestly don't really remember  _how_ it broke, I just-" She paused, allowing herself a moment to breathe. "I just remember the vultures telling me to heal it, I-I couldn't focus so it didn't heal right, but they didn't  _care_ as long as I could walk that was fine for them."

All of a sudden it dawned on Lena, she was doing far more harm to herself holding it all in, she _knew_ she need help but she didn't know how to ask for it. Maybe, they _could_ all help. The boys had all quickly slipped out of the room, she didn't notice where they had went, so she focused on the emotional girl in front of her. Looping an arm around Webbys shoulder she pulled the girl closer, trying to change the subject to fix the mood.

___

"Uncle Scrooge!" A chorus of three voices echoed through Scrooges office, the prospect of a quiet morning with his tea was thrown out of the window. Still, he was happy the boys had adjusted to barging into his offices so quickly. 

"Good mornin' lads, to what do I owe this visit?" After finishing his phrase he turned in his chair, shocked at the saddened expressions on his nephews faces. 

"What's wrong, boys?" Had something gone wrong again? What could have possibly put these three balls of energy so down in the dumps? Rather than answering him, Dewey pulled on his waistcoats sleeve, gesturing for the elder to follow them downstairs. 

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain-" Huey started, not sure where to go from there. 

"It's about Lena." Louie added bluntly, he had never had a problem with being blunt and straight to the point.

"What's wrong with her, lad?" His pace quickened, hadn't she been through enough already? It didn't make much sense, had someone made their way inside? No, it must've been something else. 

Dewey had opened his beak, ready to speak only to be cut off by a soft  _thump_. 

_"Lena!"_ Webbys' voice, laced with panic, echoed through the barren halls.

That was the trigger. 

Scrooge began to run, bolting around corners, trailed by his nephews, dreading to see what had caused Webbigail such distress. It was a sad sight. The pair were in the centre of the room, Webby was crouched on the ground, with Lena's arm slung around her shoulder and her other arm wrapped around her shaking leg.

"What's wrong, lass?" He didn't see why he asked, it was  painfully  obvious what was wrong.  _'How didn't I notice this?'_ Lena was on the ground, her small frame shaking with each breath, hand tightly wrapped around her leg, bent and misshapen. Her eyes were scrunched closed, like she was trying to block something unpleasant out of her mind.

Carefully, they lifted her on to one of the larger sofas, her head propped up with pillows and ice being placed around her leg while Scrooge immediately called for his healers. The boys had  regrettably been asked to leave the room in order to give the healers plenty of room to work with, though no matter how much Scrooge tried there was no way that he could make Webby leave Lena's side.

A trio of healers arrived promptly after Scrooges plea, carrying several large trays of water along with them. No words needed to be exchanged, all the details were all set out in front of them, they swiftly began rearrange Lena so that her leg was propped against the arm of the sofa, her eyes were open now, looking to Webby for some kind of answer.

"Hey, don't worry. They're gonna help you out, I'll be right here with you, I promise." Webby kept her voice low, to provide as much reassurance to the ailing teen as she could, she  _needed_ to have someone there for her and Webby was going to be that person no matter what.

Lena nodded and settled her head back into the pillows underneath her head as the healers prepared to begin.

"This  _will_ hurt, my deepest apologies." The healer was extremely blunt, not bothering to attempt to sugarcoat the situation but it did prompt Lena to entwine her hand with Webbys, as some form of comfort, and she had no problem with it.

The three healers began to shift the water beside them, carefully coiling it around the twisted limb, making sure the full surface was covered before the healing process began. 

_"Brace yourself."_

Then the pain set in.

The three waterbenders all began to move the water around her wound, she could feel the nerves around the bone move and twist. Letting out a chocked gasp she tightened her grip on Webby's hand, squeezing her eyes closed she tried to find anything to take her mind of the agony. Her mind flashed back to when she first broke her leg, the pain that was  so  similar to back then, but it felt better, her leg wasn't as painful as it was before.

She could feel Webby tracing circles into the back of her hand, a simply reminder that she was still there, it made her feel warm inside, knowing that she definitely wasn't leaving her.

It would be over soon, she knew it would all be worth it in the end. 

After an an excruciating wait, the healers finally retracted the water from Lena's leg before turning to the teen.

"Unfortunately, all we could do was repair the nerve damage around the wound, the bone itself was too badly damaged, but you should be able to walk on it with a considerably lower amount of pain." They sounded sincere, a slight tone of hope in their voice. 

But it made Lena realise how  _tired_ she was, she adjusted herself so she was lying comfortably on her side before closing her eyes, Webby cuddling beside her, flinging a blanket over the two. 

This wouldn't fix everything, but it was a start.


End file.
